Promises

I love rainbows. Today that is probably a politically dangerous thing to say. Unfortunately, rainbows have come to represent the homosexual movement, taking God’s creation and defiantly waving it in His face. But in the Old Testament, people took God’s wondrous creation of trees and carved them into idols. In the New Testament, the Greeks looked at the expanse of God’s heavens, made up mythical stories of the constellations and worshipped them. Today it’s rainbows.  There is nothing new under the sun.

And I still love rainbows. As a little girl, a rainbow sticker or bandaid was the first thing I chose from the box. I had rainbow pencils, and a Rainbow Brite doll, and I loved to draw rainbows (especially since they are both easy and colorful to draw – the height of my artistic skills). When I was eleven or twelve, I saw a complete rainbow at the swimming pool – two of them in the sky, perfectly round like circles. As I grew older, seeing a rainbow brought me comfort. It still does.

I’m no scientist, but rainbows are astounding things. They are revealed light – seven perfect colors that we can’t see with the naked eye most of the time, yet they are always there. When the perfect combination of light and water mix, we see a rainbow. Or when light hits prismatic glass at the correct angle. My engagement ring can create hundreds of tiny rainbows, a delight that always makes me smile.

Noah and his family saw the first rainbow God painted in the sky. God set it there as a sign of His promise that He would never again destroy the earth and mankind with a flood. When I see a rainbow in the sky, I think of that promise. But I think mostly of the Promiser. Seeing a rainbow fills me with the peace that God and His promises are “Yea and Amen”. They are faithful and true. They will never forsake me. I can stake my life on them. They will never fail.

I remember very clearly a time in Texas when I was very upset after church one Sunday. I had been in Texas for a year or so and circumstances had me trying to navigate very shaky ground. I had some huge decisions I had to make and not much time to make them. And while I was contemplating what moves I needed to make, I was also thinking of the future and what moves I could make within the next few months. I had an hour drive to and from church, plenty of time to mull over these complexities and cry my heart out. My present circumstances had shaken my life so hard, I couldn’t find a moments peace. And then I saw the rainbow.

I remember it so clearly, hanging in the sky above as I took the entrance ramp onto the interstate. We had only had a brief moment of rain before the wide Texas sky opened and the sun beat down its heat upon the dry, August earth. But it was enough to show forth a rainbow. And even though I still didn’t have the answers to my problems, I had a peace. God sent me a rainbow. His promises are true. Somehow, the answers would come.

This past Saturday, we had a near fiasco trying to purchase a grill. Ed was wound tight, upset that what should have been an easy transaction took nearly a half hour. I was crunching numbers in my head, trying to figure out if we could make it to pay day thanks to the store charging us for the wrong thing, crediting the account which takes a few days, and then charging us again for the right thing. Our checking account isn’t that flexible, and I can dig myself a hole pretty quickly worrying about it. Only Emry was happy, sleeping in the back even though it was time for her to eat. It was raining and drivers were doing crazy things. I kept thinking we still have a whole evening to get through, we’re all on pins and needles…are we going to kill each other before its over? And then the sun broke through the clouds…and a rainbow appeared.

I have never seen a rainbow like this one. If you believe there is a pot of gold at the end of it, this was the one to search. It hung low to the ground, one end seeming to come down right on the interstate. We seemed to drive right at it, and then under it like a bridge. It was beautiful.

And peace reigned. We talked about rainbows, and God’s creation, and His promises. The frustration over inept cashiers and inflexible bank accounts melted away. Everything would work out somehow. God promised. And it is so.